David Bowie is

Much like its subject, the blockbuster exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum offers something for everyone.


One’s experience of David Bowie is will inevitably be tempered by one’s own feelings about Bowie’s work. I’m a restrained fan; Bowie is, to me, the most important and innovative musical artist of my lifetime, but I don’t often find myself listening to his music. It’s too complex, too powerful, too heavy; it remains locked in the cupboard for special occasions.

And what better occasion than the final stop of this enormous touring exhibition, which brings 400 artifacts from Bowie’s archive right to my backyard?


Because of visitor demand, the experience begins with a rush of complexity; a lengthy instructional email I received two days before my visit outlined the logistics I would face, and timed-admission tickets provide a strict 15-minute entry window. You’ll want to get tickets at least a few days in advance for weekday visits, and a few weeks in advance for weekends.

On entering the exhibition you’re handed an audio guide in the form of comfortable Sennheiser headphones, which keep you sonically immersed throughout the galleries. The soundtrack reacts to your location in the museum, providing synchronization with adjacent video installations. The effect is magical when you first realize how seamlessly it’s happening, and the audio quality is superb.

Exhibition Entrance
David Bowie is, March 2, 2018 through July 15, 2018, installation view. (Photo: Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum)

The first glimpse of the galleries presents Bowie’s name theatrically in lights, surrounding an iconically avant-garde Kansai Yamamoto costume from the Aladdin Sane tour. From here, we journey back to the artist’s childhood and early youth. There’s a beautifully-made projection-mapped media installation here, which illustrates Bowie’s audio narration with animated highlights of his early life, transforming from his childhood bedroom to the London Tube and a BBC studio, among other settings.

Alas, here’s where the crowding of the exhibition first hit me. With smaller artifacts like photos and letters mounted along the walls, I found myself waiting in line to get close enough to read the captions. Soon after, objects and videos related to “Space Oddity” are dead-ended into a corner. Crowded with visitors watching the song’s iconic videos, I had to politely cut in front of people in order to get a look at objects mounted on the surrounding walls.

Starman
Photo: Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum

Fortunately, the exhibition next scales up its spaces, and artifacts, as we enter the high-ceilinged Cantor Gallery. We get a strong dose of Bowie’s avant-garde leanings as we’re introduced to his strongest influences, from Kabuki to Brecht to Kubrick. An infinity-mirror alcove presents a live television performance of “Starman” behind its multicolored costume, both of which caused a stir after their 1972 airing. From here on in, the galleries rely heavily on such costumed mannequins, helping to bring Bowie’s physicality into the experience.

The exhibition soon drops its chronological approach, instead moving from theme to theme using the format established by its title: “David Bowie Is Surprising Himself,” “David Bowie Is Someone Else,” etc. We explore Bowie’s album artwork, learn about his lyric writing processes, and meet his musical and artistic collaborators.

Music Video Gallery
Photo: Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum

The tour continues with sections focusing on Bowie’s gender-bending identities, his Berlin years, and his connections to New York City. An expansive gallery focusing on music videos presents these alongside their original costumes. For me, this was one of the most successful parts of the exhibition; With dark walls and dramatic lighting, it felt truly immersive, while operating at a scale that accommodated both casual passers-by and those who chose to watch every second of content.

The exhibition’s largest room offers giant-scale concert footage projected onto three walls; visitors sat down to watch, and indeed, it did have the feel of a performance space. On the opposite wall, double-decker alcoves presented notable tour costumes, but the impromptu audience made it challenging to get a good look at these.

After a sidebar gallery on Bowie’s American influences, we turn around and head back towards the exit, through smaller spaces focusing on his film performances, his influence on other artists, and finally, a bittersweet look at ephemera from Bowie’s last recording, Blackstar. Then it’s onward to the gift shop….


I was puzzled by my responses to the exhibition – I honestly couldn’t decide what I thought. And then I realized that I had spent almost two hours in the galleries.

Any visitor’s experience will vary based on their fandom; I could easily have watched the entire 10 minute loop of “Space Oddity” videos, and I stopped myself from overindulging on “Ashes to Ashes,” reminding myself I’ve seen the video dozens of times. I found myself breezing past content related to Bowie’s 1990s output, which never really struck a chord with me, perhaps given its relative lack of theatricality.

Part of me wished for a fully chronological approach, to help contextualize Bowie’s history and evolution, but I imagine that might have been logistically challenging given the exhibition’s scope. It’s worth noting that Bowie’s archive provided the vast majority of what’s on display here, and there may be biases at play. I managed to get through without experiencing any audio or video from his 1980s “pop” albums, though that may be due to the happenstance of my timing. This is inevitable with so much linear media; I caught film clips from Labyrinth but missed The Man Who Fell to Earth – two performances a decade apart but from vastly different universes (pun intended).

Space Oddity
Photo: Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum

It’s impossible to assess the visitor experience without taking in mind the crowds; there were many times when I gave up on reading an object label just to avoid pushing through the masses of visitors. The immersive audio, which was generally quite good, had similar limitations; because of the exhibition’s density with dueling video installations 15 or so feet apart, there were times when the audio source jumped arbitrarily between tracks, even when I was standing directly in front of one of the synchronized displays.

I had hoped for the opportunity to step more deeply into the world of Bowie, and the three-dimensionality of his theater and video sets would have made for compelling environments. The exhibition has flourishes of immersion in its mirror effects and large-scale projections, but compared to recent blockbuster spectacles on Alexander McQueen, the Rolling Stones, and (in these same galleries) Jean-Paul Gaultier, the design often feels downright stodgy. Perhaps there was concern about the scenography competing with the artistry of its objects. I was moved… but I wanted to be transported.

Live Performance Gallery
Photo: Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum

Still, between the costumes, the video, the artwork, and the glorious soundtrack, David Bowie is offers something for everyone. And while it might not have been enough for me, I’ll certainly be heading back for more.

Header photo: Jonathan Dorado, Brooklyn Museum

David Bowie is

Through July 15, 2018
Brooklyn Museum

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